San San Lipsticks

At one point in my life, I only visited HBC branches for makeup. Their main makeup brand is San San, and today I’ll be reviewing a couple of lipsticks from that: Soleil and Hydrating Color Dew.

Most of San San makeup come in a rather unattractive matte blue plastic packaging, but these two are quite special. Soleil is a limited edition summer line (hence the yellow packaging and the little suns on the cap) while Hydrating Color Dew is part of the regular line, but it comes in a prettier metallic blue tube.

The Soleil lipstick line comes in three shades while the Hydrating Color Dew line comes in eight. I purchased Soleil Pink Tropics and Hydrating Color Dew in #3.

San San lipsticks cost around P100 (around $2), and have slightly less product than the average lipstick. This is perfectly fine with me; the shorter the lipstick, the faster I can finish it.

Both of these lipsticks are pink, but they are very different:

L-R: Soleil, Hydrating Color Dew

Pink Tropics is a cool, blue-based light pink and #3 is a warm, coral pink. To further illustrate the difference in hue, here are some lip swatches:

Soleil Pink Tropics

Hydrating Color Dew #3

Such pretty pinks, aren’t they, but I’m not into blue-based pinks so I reach out for #3 more. In fact, before I started hoarding all these lipsticks, #3 was the only one I used. Seriously. No matter what my outfit was, I’d always do the warm pink blush + #3 combo. Subtle but pretty.

Now, what I dislike about San San lipsticks is that they’re so creamy and slippery that I need to blend the color with a finger after application; otherwise, it would look patchy and streaky. They definitely aren’t buildable; the color would cake up on the lips. Hydrating Color Dew lipsticks are based on squalane, which is an oily substance used as an emollient in cosmetics. The other lipsticks are based on oily substances as well (castor oil and mineral oil), which would explain the slippery consistency.

Staying power is so-so. If I leave them on my lips without eating or drinking, they dry up rather than fade, so I have to retouch. I wipe my lips when I eat and these come off easily, although #3 leaves a nice reddish stain behind if I don’t rub my lips too hard.

These lipsticks have a sheer and glossy finish, making them perfect for everyday use. Like many San San cosmetics, they smell like vanilla/cocoa butter, which I don’t mind.

San San lipsticks come in a wide range of colors: nudes, browns, pinks, reds. However, I can easily find a color I like in other brands with better quality. I just don’t like how slippery San San lipsticks are.